


Prince Galra Wolf?

by FadingShadows881



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Galra Keith (Voltron), Galran Prince Keith (Voltron), Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), I'll Explain Later, Keith is a wolf, M/M, Not really a wolf, Tortured Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-07-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23667388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FadingShadows881/pseuds/FadingShadows881
Summary: During a desperate grab for the Red Lion, Lance stumbles upon a Space Wolf. After begging to keep it, he finds out that there's more to the wolf than meets the eye.*This work is also on Wattpad under the name Mother_Of_Mayhem*
Relationships: Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 132





	1. A Wolf

"Lance! Where are you?!" Pidge's voice screeched through the comms. "We're grabbing the Red Lion, but there are ships everywhere! We need help!" Lance raced through the empty halls of the galra ship.

"Okay okay! Just hold on! I'm almost there!" Lance shouted, but in reality, he was not almost there. He was hopelessly lost. Lance came to an intersection and glanced around. Left, right, ahead, left, right, ahead. "Dammit!" He growled. He turned right and ran. After a few minutes, Lance came upon the prisoner block. Cells lined the hall, but most of them were open. "Ugh!" Lance groaned. "I'm gonna be stuck here forever! Why do these places gotta be so damn complicated?!" He walked down the hall slowly catching his breath.

Movement in a cell caught his eye. Lance looked over to the cell on the right. "Hello?" He asked cautiously. He approached the cell slowly. He glanced into the cell, but it was pitch black. He took one step into it and let his eyes adjust to the darkness. He froze. _Blood._ The cell stank of iron. Just as he was about to bolt, he heard a whimper from one corner of the cell. "Hello?" He asked again. There was a small bundle of fur in the corner. He avoided the dried blood on the floor and made his way over to the bundle of fur.

Once he was sure that it wasn't going to do anything, He gently patted the bundle. Yellow eyes opened and glanced at him warily. Lance paused and waved a hand. "Um, hi?" The bundled whimpered again and shifted a little. A quiet growl sounded from it. Lance took a step back. "Shit, uh, hey, it's okay." He then crouched down next to it. "I'm not gonna hurt you." He said softly. Mentally Lance facepalmed. _What am I suppose to do now? Should I bring it with me?_ The whole ship shook and the floor rumbled. _Might as well._ "Hey little guy, I'm going to bring you, okay? I'm here to help." Lance slid his arms under the bundle. The growling slighty intensified, but it still didn't do anything. Lance took that as a sign to keep going so he lifted it up. "Whoa, you're pretty light!" Unfortunately, that didn't seem like a good thing. Lance could feel the animal's ribs through the thick, unkept fur.

Lance staggered out of the cell and into the light of the hallway. The growling stopped and was replaced with small, quiet whimpers. Lance then looked down to see what he picked up. It looked like a... dog? It's fur was matted with blood and dirt and when Lance looked back, fresh blood droplets left a trail back into the cell.

The galra ship shook again, more intensely this time. "Lance? Lance!" Shiro yelled over the comms. "Lance, let's go! We have the Red Lion! Where are you?!"

"Uhh, by the prison cells? Dude, I honestly don't know where my lion is!" Lance said and he started running.

Pidge's voice came over the comms, "Alright I thought this might happen." Ignoring Lance's indignant _Hey!_ She said,"I'm pulling up a map of the ship, just give me a tick." Lance stopped at an intersection. "Take a left, a right, then another right and you should see Blue."

Lance followed Pidge's instructions and found his lion. He quickly climbed into it's mouth and into the cockpit. "Thanks, Pidge! Also, I have a little friend with me guys, I found him in one of the cells."

"You took a galra prisoner?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Well kinda?" Lance said as he found a blanket in Blue's storage. He carefully wrapped the dog in the blanket and placed him in the corner. Then he hopped into the pilot seat and started flying Blue out of the galra ship. "He's more of an animal?"

"The galra are known for keeping dangerous creatures on their ship, Lance! What does it look like?" Allura asked.

Lance piloted Blue towards the castle-ship. "I mean, he doesn't look dangerous to me. He's like a big dog, but I can't see much 'cause he's covered in a loot of dirt."

The Blue Lion landed in the castle just as the castle wormholed away.

Lance picked up the dog-like creature and left the blue lion. The rest of the team was already waiting outside the lion. Shiro facepalmed. "Lance, what did you pick up?"

Lance shrugged and held the dog closer. "I dunno, Shiro, but he needs some help! Come on, Coran!" He then turned and ran to the medbay with Coran in tow, the rest of the team followed a little slower.

Pidge glanced at Shiro and Allura. "Are you really going to let Lance keep it?"

Shiro shrugged. "I let you keep Rover, didn't I?"


	2. A Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance gets to know the Space Wolf a little more and the Space Wolf begrudgingly accepts Lance's company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little longer than then other one, but I guess it can still be considered pretty short.

Lance sat on the other side of the glass wall, watching the dog-creature. The cell was pretty spacious, but really empty. It was just an empty white room with a bed hovering in the corner. The wolf lay curled up underneath the hovering bed in blankets. Lance sighed. The wolf seemed to have gone through a lot. He and Coran had to dress it's wounds the old fashioned way because animals were not allowed in the cryopods, and the poor thing had both forelegs broken, bruised ribs, fractured back legs, and multiply scratches all over its body. Fortunately, Coran said that he was going to make a full recovery, as long as he rested. Lance had asked what kind of animal he was and the only response he got was "A wolf of some kind?" It seemed like the wolf wasn't in the Altean database, so Lance asked Pidge to do some research.

As Lance studied the wolf, he felt worse the more he looked at him. Bandages wrapped almost his whole body and his fur was still dirty. So dirty that Lance couldn't even tell what color he was.

"Hey Lance," Hunk walked up behind him. "What's up? Any change?" Hunk held out a plate of some food he probably whipped up.

Lance took the plate. "Hey Hunk, and nope, no change. He's still sleeping." He looked down at the food. "What is this?" It looked like some really weird pink oatmeal with some solid blue jello-like cube.

"Oh I was just experimenting in the kitchen and all, and I found that this oatmeal stuff kinda tasted like eggs and the cube tasted like some weird form of bacon. It's actually pretty great!" Hunk smiled, "Oh yeah, I also brought food for your Wolf. Does he have a name or something?" He asked as he slid a bowl through a small opening in the glass wall.

Lance smiled slightly, "You know, I don't know yet. He reminds me of my German Shepherd back home. He's actually about the same size, now that I think about it." Hunk sat down next to Lance and they began talking about possible names for the newest member of team Voltron. "How about... " Lance tapped his chin and thought. "How about we let him decide?" He pointed to the figure curled in the blankets. Hunk laughed. "Hah! That's very funny Lance." Then he paused and saw Lance's expression. "Wait, you're serious? How would that work? He can't talk! ...Can he?"

Lance just laughed. "Well we could just list off names and see which one he reacts to the most!" Over the next 2 hours Hunk and Lance watched the wolf and just kept listing names, hoping to see some sort of reaction. "Dante... Mark... Sean!" Lance listed. There was no response.

Hunk yawned. "Ugh, just pick a name Lance. I don't think he can even understand us. He probably just thinks we're talking about something."

Lance sighed, crestfallen. "I guess you're right, Hunk. I want to just try a few more, just in case." He then stood up and stretched. Lance stared intently at the bundle, hoping to see the slightest.. anything! "Kosmo!" Nothing.

"Johnathan!" Nope.

"Charlie!" Uh uh.

"Ugh! Keith!" Lance shouted.

.... a twitch of the ear.

Lance smiled widely. "Hunk Hunk!!" He started jumping and clapping and whooping. "Hunk! He chose Keith!"

Hunk snorted and sat up. It seems as though he fell asleep. No one can blame him though. "Huh what? Keith? Who's Keith?" Then, to their amazement, the wolf's, no, _Keith's_ yellow, iris-less eyes peaked open and stared at the two paladins.

Lance stopped his small "dance of victory," and grabbed Hunk by his shoulders. " _Hunk_ ," he whispered, "he can _hear_ us!" Then Lance let go and stepped closer to the glass where he crouched down. Lance smiled very slightly. "Hi, Keith," he said gently, "I'm Lance." He pressed a hand against the glass. "You're safe now, okay? We're gonna take good care of you buddy." Hunk watched with wide eyes, mouth open in wonder. The paladins sat, frozen, as Keith's head raised up out of the blankets, his yellow eyes wide. Suddenly, Keith's head, tilted to the side with his ears perked up. Lance's heart just _melted_. Keith was absolutely adorable. Even with his fur stained with blood and bandages wrapped everywhere, he was the cutest damn space wolf Lance had ever seen. Hunk watched the scene with watery eyes and a large smile.

"That's it." Lance stood up abruptly. "I'm going in."

Hunk snapped out of his awestricken trance, "Wait, wait, wait, what?! Lance, you can't go in there!" Lance went to a panel to the left of the glass wall and pressed his hand against it. "Lance! Keith may be super adorable, but we don't know what he's capable of!" The panel scanned his hand and the glass wall slid open. " _Lancee!_ " Hunk whined, trying to grab him by the arm. "Lance, don't go in there! Coran and Pidge haven't identified what kind of animal he is yet! Can't we wait until we know if Keith could kill us before going in there?"

Keith lay in his blankets and watched the scene with unblinking eyes. Lance stepped into the white room and slowly approached Keith. "Who knows when Coran and Pidge will identify what he is! Besides, _that,_ " he gestured to Keith, "doesn't look like the face of a killer."

Hunk shifted uncomfortably and stood up. "He could be faking or something! I don't know!" Hunk groaned, "Lance, Lance! I swear if he kills you..." Lance kept approaching Keith, with Keith just staring at Lance with wide eyes. "Uh.. I'm-I'm gonna go get Shiro!" Hunk turned and bolted out of the room.

Lance rolled his eyes and got on the floor. He moved the untouched bowl of food towards the wall, then he scooted towards Keith until he was about 4 feet away from the bundle. "Hi buddy," Lance smiled and slowly reached out a hand. Keith's eyes widened a tad bit more and his ears shot back. He lowered his head closer to the floor. Keith made a sound that was like a mix between a growl and a whimper. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you, little guy, I promise." He kept reaching his hand out, but Keith made the whimper-growl sound again and scooted back against the wall and curled into a tighter ball. _He must be terrified,_ Lance thought, _why didn't I think of what to do before I stupidly shoved my way into his personal space?!_ Lance then felt crusted fur beneath his finger tips. Keith flinched, but then after a second, relaxed. Once Lance was sure that Keith wasn't going lash out and bite off his hand, he scooted next to the ball of fluff and gently pet him. Keith tensed when he felt Lance's thigh against him, but then relaxed when Lance ran his fingers through his messy fur. Lance chuckled quietly. "You see? You're fine, and you need a bath," he teased. Lance began rubbing the space wolf behind his ear and he started purring. Lance smiled, "You are too cute." Keith placed his head into Lance's lap and snuggled closer. His glowing yellow eyes closed and he kept purring.

Lance sat there with his new friend for a good 5 minutes before he heard footsteps approaching them. He looked up and saw Hunk with Shiro and Pidge. Lance held a finger to his lips in the universal sign for _shh,_ then he gestured to the sleeping wolf in his lap. Shiro's eyes widened and he nodded, eyeing the sleeping animal. Pidge, however, was ecstatic, but sad. Her eyes were shining as she watched Keith sleep. He obviously reminded Pidge of her dog, Bae Bae, back on Earth. "Can… can I pet him?" She whispered.

Lance smiled sadly. "Not yet," he whispered back. "He's still a little skittish. Maybe in a few more days." Pidge wiped her eyes and nodded. "Does he have a name?"

Lance nodded. "His name is Keith."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that chapter was a bit better and to you guys' liking. The story will come later, but for now, I have quite a bit of fluff before that. Yes this story is Klance, but Lance will not love Keith romantically until later: THIS WILL NOT HAVE ANY BEASTIALITY. That is NOT what I'm going for, it will make sense later on, I swear!


	3. A Bath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally gets Keith into the tub.

It's been a couple days since the first contact between Keith and Lance. Lance has spent almost every second of those days with Keith. Keith finally allowed Pidge to pet him, instigating quite a bit of waterworks from her and he seemed to be grateful towards Hunk because he would always bring Keith and Lance their food. Keith has only seen Allura once or twice, so he obviously steers clear of her. Coran has built a bit of trust with Keith since Coran is the one who always changed his bandages. With Shiro, however, well, Keith seemed wary of him. He saw his galran arm and didn't seem to like it too much. Lance has built up trust between him and Keith and Keith doesn't growl when Lance gets close anymore. Recently, Lance has been trying to get Shiro to allow Keith to stay in his room with him. (Of course he has to ask Space Dad if he can keep his dog in his room) But Shiro said that before that can happen, Keith need a bath. A _really good_ bath. The poor wolf still smelled like blood and his coat was disgusting. His fur was still crusted and it seemed like Keith was just brown and black. (And red since some of his scabs were itched off, but Lance could swear that his fur was a natural red color, no one believed him) Even though Lance was trying his best to take care of the alien dog, there were still a few problems: Keith didn't eat much, he would maybe eat half a bowl of food a day, he would also drink an ungodly amount of water then vomit it up later along with his half a bowl of food, and on top of all that, Lance still didn't know the species of Keith and what he really needed! Pidge has been hard at work researching potential species, and going through every database she could get her hands on. But without the actual appearance of Keith, running pictures of him through species recognition was out of the question. So pretty much everything pointed to Keith finally getting that bath.

The good news was that Keith healed very fast so most of his wounds were gone, which would make it easier to take him a bath without the fear of him bleeding out. His fractured legs were all better, but his broken legs were just barely healed, so Lance had to be careful of that.

"C'mon, Keith! We're gonna take you a bath, buddy." Lance said as he opened the glass wall. Keith sat up with his ears perked at the word _bath._ He licked his lips and kneaded his bed (his original blanket, a hoodie from Lance, a pillow from Hunk, a t-shirt from Pidge, and a stuffed altean animal from the castle's storage *Coran*) in excitement. His tail flicked back and forth and Lance laughed. "Alright alright, I know you're excited, but so am I! We fianlly get to see what color you are! Let's go!" Keith got up and trotted to Lance. Lance was wearing his swim shorts and a t-shirt along with slippers, 'cause who knows? Taking a dog a bath could get messy. They walked down the hall to Lance's room. Keith pranced about the whole way there. "Wow, I never knew a dog that would get _this_ excited about a bath." Lance smiled, but then he frowned. "I guess it's understandable since you were in a prison for who knows how long." He watched Keith prance around, stopping occasionally to sniff under a door. "Why would the galra imprison an animal? What would be the point of that?" Lance muttered to himself. Questions for later, he supposed.

Lance was alerted by a sneeze. He pulled himself out of his thoughts as he saw Keith had stopped in front of a door. _His_ door, he realized. That's probably why he was checking every door. He shook his head and opened the door to his room. Keith leaped into his room and began running around, smelling everything like a curious puppy. Lance chuckled, "This way, Keith, bathroom's this way." Keith stopped rummaging around in Lance's drawers (how did he even get in there?) and raced through the open door. When Lance looked in, Keith was sitting patiently in the bathtub, _almost_ patiently. Lance could see his tail wagging and the occasional kneading of his paws. Lance was ready to step into the bathroom when he heard someone call him. 

"Hey Lance?" Pidge's headed popped into the doorway of his room, a grin on her face. "You gonna take him a bath now?"

"Yup!" Lance said, popping the p. "I thought that it was time that Keith showed his true colors." He then winked.

Pidge rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Anyway," she said, holding out the a, "come see me the moment he's clean, I'd like to get a picture and run him through the database to finally see what he is."

"Will do, Pidge!" Lance gave a thumbs up with a smirk, then he turned and walked into the bathroom where Keith was waiting. "Alright, buddy, let's do this!" Lance turned on the water and made sure it was warm before turning to grab some soap. Once he turned, he paused and turned back. Keith was lapping at the water. Lance's brow furrowed. "Hey, Keith," he said, scooping a hand under Keith's snout and lifting it out of the water. "Quit that, dude, you're going to make yourself sick again." He smiled, but inwardly he was worried, he reminded himself to ask Coran for another check up. Keith seemed to have some obsession with drinking a lot of water. He shook it off and filed the thoughts away for later, then he turned to go grab soap under the sink. The tub was filled about halfway and the water was already turning slightly murky from the dirt, and Lance hasn't even started scrubbing yet. "Hmm, alright, change of plans Keith." Lance said as he went to find a brush. "I don't use this brush much anymore, so it can be yours now. Your fur seems to be really long anyway." Before adding any soap, Lance rinsed Keith's fur and brushed out the tangles and dirt. "It's a wonder how you don't have any fleas and ticks." Lance wondered, "They must not have the equivalent of that in space." He kept brushing until the chunks of dirt and blood were off Keith's fur. "There we go, now we just..." Lance drained the water and reached for the soap. Keith stood, circled around in the tub a little bit, then he _shook._ "Wah! Keith!" Lance shouted in surprise as water flew everywhere. "Keith stop!" He laughed. Keith stopped and put his front paws on the edge of the tub, he stretched and licked Lance on the cheek. "Keith, get off!" Lance playfully shoved Keith back into the tub. "I gotta put soap on you, you little dipwad!" Lance grabbed the soap and dumped it on Keith from the top of his head all the way down his back. Lance tossed the bottle behind him. "Well looks like I'm outta soap," he chuckled.

Lance began scrubbing Keith's fur, the white soapy bubbles becoming pinkish and light brown. Once Keith looked like an unsheared sheep with all the bubbles, Lance reached for the shower head. "Alright Keith, time for the moment of truth," Lance turned on the shower and began rubbing the wet wolf, "What color art thou?!" He shouted dramatically. Once all the soap was off, Lance snatched a towel and vigorously dried the space wolf then he tossed the now-wet towel to the side and took a step back.

(Basically Kosmo but with black fur going down his back, red markings on his face and chest, light purple markings on his legs, side and around his eyes, and his fur is a dark purple)

"Wow." Lance gaped. "You're really colorful, aren'tcha?" Keith replied with a bark.

~~~

Lance and Keith walked down the hallway towards Pidge's room after Lance changed out of his wet clothes. "Alright, Keith, once we get a good picture of you, we'll finally know what you are, buddy." They stopped in front of Pidge's door. "Here we go." Lance knocked on the door. "Pidge, open up! It's your favorite person and resident space wolf!"

The door slid open and Pidge's head popped out. Her eyes lit up when she saw Keith. "Oh cool! You're clean!" Ignoring Lance entirely, Pidge ushered Keith into her room and she raced to her computer. 

Lance huffed and stalked into the room after them. "Oh hi Lance, it's nice to see you too, thanks for cleaning up Keith," Lance imitated Pidge with a higher pitched voice.

Pidge types something on her computer, then took out her handheld communicator. "Sit there, Keith." She instructed while pointing in front of her. Keith complied and sat in front of her. "Hold still..." She snapped a picture of him, "Perfect!" Then she quickly uploaded the picture to her computer. "Annd…" She typed a few more things as Lance took a seat next to her. She hit the enter key, "Searching!" She announced. "Now we wait."

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Pidge pet Keith. Lance's leg was bouncing impatiently. "Is it suppose to take this long?" He complained. 

"Now that you've brought that up..." Pidge turned back to the computer. "No, it shouldn't be taking this long." She watched the screen for a few seconds.

"Maybe the picture was a bit blurry?" Lance suggested.

_Bing!_

The paladins stared at the screen as it loaded up a page and translated it.

_The Daibazaal Wolf_

_Habitat: The forests of Daibazaal_

_Diet: Unknown_

_Behavior: The Diabazaal Wolves are the most elusive and mysterious animals to ever grace the planet's surface. Not much is known about these animals except that they were constantly in close contact with the Galran Royals. _

_More information on these regal creatures can be found in the Royal Library on Daibazaal._

"Well that wasn't helpful!" Lance blurted out as he aggressively gestured to the computer screen.

Pidge adjusted her glasses. "Well I guess that's the end of it. I suppose it was better than nothing."

"What?!" Lance shouted. "The end of it? Can't you.. like.. I dunno! Hack something-somewhere to get more info?"

The green paladin sighed. "Lance, this database was basically a conglomeration of every alien database I could reach, so that means that this is _all_ the information that the _entire galaxy_ had on these wolves." She said, "Besides, it's not like we can check out this "royal library" anyway, Daibazaal is gone."

Lance groaned and slumped in his seat. "I guess you're right." The two sat there contemplating their "failure" while Keith wandered around Pidge's room, checking every little gadget scattered across the floor and on the tables. Suddenly Lance sat up, "Wait," he said, "what if we ask the Blade of Marmora if they happened to get any information from that Royal Library?"

Pidge shrugged. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to ask, but I seriously doubt that they would have information on Daibazaal's wildlife. The Galra could pretty much assume that all the animals and plants died with the planet." She paused and looked at Keith, "Daibazaal was destroyed like ten thousand years ago. Which brings up the question..." Pidge pointed at Keith, "How is he still alive?"

[Link to Keith's picture](https://fadingshadows881.tumblr.com/post/615700326723502080/this-is-wolf-keith-from-my-fanfiction-prince-galra)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading y'all! I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it! I also don't have any sort of beta reader so I'm sorry if you guys find any mistakes and stuff.  
> I'm new to putting pictures into the story, so if the picture didn't work, I also linked it at the end. :D


	4. A Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance manages to have a video chat with the leader of the Blades, plus an unexpected visitor.

Lance sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "And why was he on the Galra ship?"

"I mean he sounds like a pretty rare creature back on Daibazaal and isn't Zarkon considered royalty?" Pidge said, tapping her chin. "So maybe he thought to take some of them with him before the planet died?"

Lance shrugged. "It's the best theory we have until we get more info. Speaking of," He pulled out his communicator and scrolled through his contacts. "I don't know how to get in touch with Kolivan. I guess we'd have to ask Allura for help with that."

~~~

"Paladins! We have a meeting on the bridge, everyone up!" Allura's voice echoed though the castle.

Lance woke with a start. "Wha?" He groaned and rolled out of bed. "No time to go get Keith then." He changed into some sweatpants and a hoodie, brushed his hair and teeth, and trudged to the bridge.

When Lance got to the bridge, everyone else was already there. He yawned, "What's up, Allura?"

"Now that everyone's here," she looked pointedly at Lance, in which he just grinned and winked back. She rolled her eyes, "we're having a meeting with Kolivan to address the issue at hand."

"Issue?" Hunk asked. "What issue? I don't think I was aware that we have an issue!"

"Hunk, calm down," Allura said. "I meant the issue of not having a red paladin." Hunk made an _Ohh_ sound and nodded. Allura turned back to the rest of them. "I have decided that it is best to ask him to bring selected Blade members to present to the Red Lion, and hope that she accepts one of them as her paladin. Until then, we still cannot form Voltron."

"We have an incoming transmission from the Blade of Marmora, Princess!" Coran announced from the console.

Allura nodded. "Patch them through, Coran."

The screen appeared above their heads, displaying Kolivan. "Princess Allura." He acknowledged her with a nod of his head. "You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes, Kolivan," She replied. "We need the Blades' help to complete Voltron, we cannot win this war until we do."

"How can we help, Princess?"

"I would like for you to bring some of your best warriors to present to the Red Lion, in hopes that she will choose one of them to be the next Red Paladin."

Kolivan nodded. "Understood, Princess. I will begin assessing my members immediately."

"Thank you, Kolivan. When can we expect your arrival?" She asked.

"In approximately 8 quintants."

"Very well, I'm looking forward to it." Allura said.

"As am I."

Just as Kolivan was about to leave, Lance spoke up. "Uh Kolivan!"

The Marmora leader looked surprised. "Yes, Lance?"

Lance scratched the back of his neck. "Uh, well, you see..." His cheeks burned with embarrassment as he realized that everyone was watching him.

"Yes...?"

Pidge poked Lance in the ribs to urge him on. "Do you happen to have any information on Daibazaal?" He blurted out.

If possible, the galra looked even more surprised. "We- we do indeed." He cleared his throat. "Why, may I ask?"

"Yes," Allura narrowed her eyes at Lance, "Why would you need information on the Galras' homeplanet?"

Lance looked at Pidge, pleading for her to say something. "Uh, well..." _Allura would freak if she found out that Keith was from Daibazaal! She still doesn't trust Kolivan completely!_

Luckily, Pidge saved Lance from anymore embarrassment. "It-It's for me!" She said quickly. "I want to know more about Daibazaal and it's, uh, nature? I-I want to compare it to Earth's... nature."

Lance grinned a little too widely. "Yeah yeah! What she said!"

Allura rubbed the bridge of her nose irritably while the rest of the team displayed similar forms of embarrassment. Kolivan, however, looked slightly amused. "We certainly have a wide range of information about Daibazaal. Is there anything in particular that you'd like?"

"Do you possibly have anything from the Royal Library?" Pidge asked excitedly.

"That information would normally be classified," Kolivan sighed, "But I'm sure I could get permission to lend you some scrolls."

"Wait, permission?" Hunk popped in. "I thought you were, like, the big leader. Why would you need permission to lend us some dusty scrolls?"

"I may be the leader, but that doesn't mean I have access to the Royal archives." Suddenly, something in the background of Kolivan's image began flashing. "I must go," he said quickly. "I will bring the individuals to present along with the Royal scrolls. I'll be there in 8 quintants." His mask appeared on his face just as the video cut out.

"Lance, Pidge, what was that all about?" Shiro asked, approaching them.

"Well, I, uhh..." Lance shuffled his feet awkwardly. Then he heard barking echoing from the hallway. "Gotta go!" Lance turned and bolted towards the hallway to go check on Keith.

The attention then turned to Pidge and she stood there. She quickly shrugged, grinned slightly, the raced after Lance.

"Hunk? Do you know what's going on?" Shiro asked.

"Honestly? Not a clue."

~~~~

"Lance? Bud, what the heck is going on?" Hunk asked.

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge sat at the dining table, with Keith sitting on the floor by Lance, gnawing on some weird alien bone. Hunk was trying out new recipes with some food items that they found on the last planet they visited. He enlisted the help of Lance and Pidge to be the taste testers. Hunk placed a few more dishes on the table.

"What do you mean, Hunk?" Lance asked as he speared a tube on his fork.

"I mean, you know! This morning with the "Information from Daibazaal" and stuff!" Hunk said, using his fingers to make air quotes. 

Lance sighed. "Well, its really got to do with Keith here." He said, pointing to the Space Wolf at his side with his fork-speared-tube. 

"What do you mean?" Hunk asked, proudly smiling at the large variety of space dishes he concocted.

"He's a wolf, from Daibazaal." Pidge said around a mouthful of... well, something that looked like mashed potatoes.

Hunk paused. "Oh." After a second, he snapped his fingers. (Lance wasn't sure how he did that through his oven mitts, but eh) "So that's why you need the info from Kolivan!"

"Exactly." Lance said, scooping a blue substance akin to lasagna onto his plate. "But data on Keith's species is hard to come by. Pidge's computer said that the info we need was in the Royal Library on Daibazaal." 

"Which is gone." Hunk finished, patting down his apron.

"Right again, Hunk." Lance shoved a spoonful of the "blue lasagna" into his mouth. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Whoa, Hunk! This is delicious!" He took another mouthful and almost melted in his seat. "Dude, what _is_ this?!" Pidge scrabbled to get some onto her plate.

Hunk laughed. "Well I found something that resembled a blue octopus and I found that it tasted like sweet tomatoes! So I worked my magic and made space lasagna!"

Keith got up from the floor, barked, and put his paws on the table. His tongue stuck out as he panted excitedly.

Lance snapped his fingers. "Keith, no. No paws on the table, pal." He commanded. Keith whined and took his paws off the table. Instead, he rested his head on the edge and stared at Lance. " _Keeiithhh_ , that's not fair!" Lance protested, "You're not allowed to give me those puppy eyes!" Keith just kept watching Lance and licked his nose. Lance groaned, "Ugh, fine, here." He begrudgingly put the plate of space lasagna on the floor next to Keith. Keith barked happily and stooped down to eat it. Lance smiled and ran a hand through the wolf's black fur. _Atleast he's eating,_ He thought.

~~~~

"What do you think forming Voltron is like?" Hunk asked the team. It has already been 7 quintants since their chat with Kolivan and they're expecting him the next morning.

As of right now, they were all just relaxing in the common area. Allura was probably in her room and Coran was god knows where. Pidge was fooling around with one of her inventions, Hunk wasn't too far from her, helping out when he was needed. Shiro seemed to be contemplating life like he always does, and Lance was sprawled out on the couch checking his communicator with Keith cuddled next to him.

"Hmm, I would think that it would be like how we're all connected to our lions through our minds, but we also get connected to each other's minds, and _bam_! We can, like, read each other's minds!" Lance answered, waving his hands around animatedly.

"I don't think it works like that, Lance." Shiro said, smiling slightly.

"Well how would you know, Shiro?" Lance asked, glaring at him. "These lions are like, magical! I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be impossible!" Keith lifted his head and barked, as if agreeing with Lance.

"Of course you'd side with Lance, Keith." Pidge muttered playfully from her side of the room.

Lance laughed. "Well yeah, he'd side with me! Keith'll always have my back! Right buddy?" Keith barked excitedly and nuzzled Lance's neck. _He's doing alot better now_ , Lance thought, _he's eating and drinking normally, and he has more energy than he did before._

"Aww, it's like true love," Pidge joked without looking up from her invention.

"Heck yeah it is!" Lance exclaimed, raising up Keith's head to be level with his own. "You're my best bud now!"

" _Hey!_ " Hunk whined, "I thought I was your best bud!"

"Best _human_ friend," Lance corrected.

Before Hunk had a chance to respond, alarms began blaring all around them. 

_"Paladins!"_ Allura shouted through the intercom. _"We have been boarded! Prepare yourselves!"_

"How were we not alerted when they were approaching?" Shiro asked as the paladins (and Keith) were racing through the halls to get their bayards and armor.

_"It seems as though they were cloaked from the Castle's scanners somehow,"_ Allura replied, _"Now hurry! The intruder is heading towards your location!"_

The paladins reached the armory and began suiting up. "Do you think there's more than one?" Hunk asked.

"I'm not sure," Shiro replied, "but it wouldn't be very smart of them to come here without any backup."

They finished suiting up the moment Keith began barking at the entrance of the armory. They all whirled around, brandishing their weapons.

A fully armored heavyset figure stepped into the room. "Hah! I told you that I would always find you, you _mutt_!" A deep, gravelly voice rang out from the alien. He was wearing thick, galran armor with a purple scarf covering his whole head except for his bright, glowing yellow eyes. Keith growled uncertainly with his hackles starting to raise. He slowly began to stand in front of Lance, as if to guard him. The intruder chuckled darkly. "I see you have found yourself a new master, _sweetheart_." He waved a hand in the air. "No matter, I will rid him from this universe and you will be _mine_ again." Keith bristled and growled, but Lance could see his legs beginning to tremble.

"Enough! Leave him alone!" Lance yelled, angling his bayard at the stranger. "Who are you? Why do you want Keith so badly?"

"Keith? Ah, it seems that they do not know who you are, do they?" He seemed to grin under his scarf. "I am Guvayurak the Greatest Hunter in all of the Galra Empire and I am just taking back what belongs to me."

"Like _hell_ you are!" Lance snarled. 

"Keep your cool, Lance." Shiro murmured, quietly powering up his mechanical arm.

The soft _whirring_ noise from Shiro's arm seemed to set Keith off. His eyes narrowed and his body tensed, preparing to launch forward.

So much happened in one second.

Just as Lance saw Keith leap forward, teeth bared, he threw himself at the attacking wolf. He knew that Keith probably didn't stand a chance against the large galra hunter. The space wolf yelped when Lance crashed into him. 

At the same moment, however, Shiro surged forward with his arm ablaze and Pidge wrapped her weapon around the legs of Guvayurak. Hunk hung back to distract the galra with his shots.

Guvayurak easily stepped out of Pidge's range and dodged Hunk's shots. He was also able to draw a sword out of nowhere and block Shiro's attack.

The galra laughed as he let go of his sword with his right hand and punched Shiro in the stomach, flinging him against the wall like he weighed nothing. "It's been a while since I last had a challenge!" He roared. "Let's see if you paladins have what it takes to amuse me!"

As the battle continued between the other three paladins, Lance kept ahold of Keith. "We have to get you out of here, Keith!" The wolf stood up, but held his ground, giving no indication that he heard Lance. He kept his gaze fixed firmly on the hunter. "Keith!" Lance tried again. Why wasn't he responding? "Keith-!" Keith barked harshly at Lance, his yellow eyes flickering to blue ones for a second, and Lance could swear he saw the mix of emotions that accompanied the complex eyes of a sentient. The inner turmoil that swirled within the wolf's soul.

But just like that, it was gone. The troubled eyes...

And the Wolf.

Lance gasped as Keith disappeared before his very eyes in a shower of light purple particles, leaving him reeling with his eyes frantically glancing around, head swiveling so fast that Lance could swear that he got whiplash. God there was alot of swearing.

Keith appeared above the fighting galra and dropped onto his head, snarling and raking his claws across his head, sending blood showering in every direction.

The Hunter bellowed loudly and seemed to forget about the other three paladins. He staggered back, trying to grab ahold of the angry wolf on his face. All the paladins stood back, watching the scene unfold in shock. 

"Where the heck did he come from?!" Pidge yelled.

Lance snapped out of his reverie first and jumped to his feet, shooting his bayard at Guvayurak's abdomen, making sure to keep his shots away from Keith. "Trip him, Pidge!" Lance shouted.

Pidge quickly focused and wrapped her bayard around his legs. Then she _pulled_.

The large alien fell with a _WHAM!_ The sound of his head slamming on the metal floor resonated throughout the room. He lay still.

Keith climbed off the galra and shook himself.

"Keith, what the _FUCK?!_ " Lance shrieked, racing to the wolf.

"There's no way a fall could knock him out that easily." Shiro said, approaching slowly.

"You-you can _teleport?!_ " Pidge said, amazed, as she went to join Lance.

Hunk just stood there, blinking. "Whaat just happened?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long guys, I don't really have an excuse for why, buut I'm trying.


	5. A Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kolivan finally visits the Castle of Lions and the truth is revealed.

"Okay, so let's recap." Hunk started. "Lance found a wolf on a heavily guarded galra ship, took care of him, named him Keith, bonded with him, and found out he was some rare, mysterious animal from a planet that no longer exists, _then_ some crackhead galra who calls himself ' _the Hunter_ ' sneaks aboard the Castle to try and take Keith only for us to find out that Keith can _teleport_! And that same crackhead was knocked out by a single hit to the floor and is now locked up in the Castle as a prisoner?"

"Umm, yeah, that pretty much sums up everything that's happened in the past week, or... movement." Lance says, tapping his chin.

"Hold on, back up." Coran said, waving his hands around. "Keith is from where now?"

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk exchanged looks. "Welll, he's sort of fromm..." Lance began, awkwardly looking at Allura, who continued to look confused.

"Daibazaal." Pidge deadpanned.

"Pidge!" Lance protested, feeling betrayed.

"Lance!" Shiro and Allura exclaimed.

_Woof!_ Keith barked from his place on the couch. 

"Is this why you wanted that information from Kolivan?" Shiro asked at the same time Allura asked, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Lance cringed at the two voices of his _Space Parents™._ "I-I mean, I didn't know how you two were going to react!" He argued. "You might've tried to make me get rid of Keith!" He hugged the galra wolf close.

Shiro sighed, wiping a hand down her face. "We wouldn't do that, Lance."

"Yeah, I'll just take some time to get... adjusted to it." Allura agreed.

Lance smiled. "Great!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Hunk waved his hands and shook his head. "Are we not going to address the fact that there's a big galra dude locked on the ship?"

"We were just getting there-"

"Or the fact that Keith can teleport?!" Pidge cut Shiro off excitedly.

Allura raised a hand. "Paladins! Calm yourselves!" She commanded. "We'll keep the galra in cryosleep, and we can discuss what to do with him once Kolivan arrives tomorrow, just in case he would like to interrogate him. Like how he was able to slip past the Castle's sensors." She turned her gaze to Keith. "As for... Keith," She blinked. "Well, Lance, you can figure out what's up with it- him." She corrected herself.

"A teleporting galran wolf, eh?" Coran piped up from his place across from the paladins, on the opposite couch. He was unusually quiet during the whole conversation.

"Do you know something about Keith, Coran?" Pidge asked, eyes gleaming.

"Wellll..." Coran stroked his mustache. "I remember the stories Pop-pop told me, about when he visited Daibazaal when he was younger. The stories the locals told of a special forest with giant wolves that were faster than any animal that was ever encountered." Lance sat up straight and gave Coran his full attention. "They said that the wolves were so fast, they seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye." Then Coran shrugged. "That's what he told me anyway. Not much was known of the wolves, but maybe the supposed 'vanishing' was their teleportation."

Lance sighed. "That's helpful." He said sarcastically.

"Maybe Kolivan will finally be able to shed some light on this situation." Hunk suggested.

Shiro nodded in agreement. "Yes, he'll probably bring the information that Lance asked for."

"Oh and don't forget!" Allura supplied. "Hopefully, by the end of tomorrow, we'll finally have a red paladin!"

"We'll be able to form Voltron!" Pidge cheered, throwing her hands in the air. The rest of the team laughed while Keith barked and hopped around, tongue hanging out and tail wagging.

~~~~~~~~

The team waited in the landing bay for the Blade of Marmora to arrive. Keith seemed content with searching the large area, but Lance was itching with nerves. He was excited to get the scrolls and finally see if there was new information on Keith.

"They're here!" Coran announced as three Blade shuttles entered the bay.

The shuttles landed and Kolivan exited the first ship that flew in along with two other galras.

"Princess Allura." He acknowledged the Altean with a bow. "Paladins." He nodded to the rest of them.

"Welcome, Kolivan." Allura nodded. "Have you brought candidates to present to the Red Lion?" She asked, getting straight to business.

"Of course I have." Kolivan answered. "I have brought six of my finest Blades along with the scrolls from the Royal Library as requested from the Blue Paladin." The other two ships opened and three Blade members came from each ship. Kolivan motioned forward with one hand and two galras from one of the ships came forward with a large hovering container between them. "Although why you'd want old scrolls from the Royal Library is beyond me-" He froze, eyes trained behind the team.

"Kolivan?" Hunk asked tentatively.

Kolivan dropped to a knee and bowed his head. "Your Highness!" The rest of the Marmorites noticed what Kolivan was doing and they too copied his movements.

"Wha-?" The team spun around and saw Keith approaching them from behind.

"Your-your Highness?!" Lance shrieked.

"What's going on?" Allura demanded.

Keith barked and the galra rose to their feet. Kolivan immediately rushed to Keith and keeled down to be at eye level with him. His eyes grew soft as he took the wolf's head in his hands. "Is it really you, My Prince?" He asked.

Allura's eyes bugged out of her head. "Kolivan! I demand an explanation!"

"What's happening right noww?" Pidge whispered. Shiro shrugged but kept his eyes on Keith and Kolivan. Hunk seemed to be in a state of complete silence, watching the exchange with wide eyes.

Lance tried to piece together what was going on in his mind. Highness? Prince? What? "K-Keith?" He sputtered.

Kolivan stood up and faced the team. He ignored their questions. "Where did you find him?" He demanded.

"I-I found him." Lance said, stepping forward. "On a galra cruiser. He-He looked really beaten up. I couldn't just leave him there."

"It's a very good thing that you didn't." Kolivan replied. "This is Prince Keithak of the Galra Empire." He narrowed his piercing yellow eyes. "The true heir to the throne."

" _True_ heir?" Shiro asked. "What about Zarkon?"

Kolivan looked away. "We have much to discuss. Let us go somewhere more comfortable to chat."

Allura nodded. "Very well. Let us go to the dining area." She began leading the way to the dining area.

Before Kolivan followed, he turned to one of the galras by the container of scrolls. "Contact Sukishet. Tell him we found the Prince." Then they all made their way towards the hallway.

~~~~~~

Once they were all seated at the table, Kolivan began immediately. "I'm sure you all know that Zarkon has been ruling the Galra Empire for 10,000 years." The group nodded. "Even though he is the Emperor, he does not have royal blood." Kolivan stated. "He seized power after he poisoned the King. He tried to kill the queen as well, but fortunately she escaped with the help of the Royal Guard. They are a select group of Galras tasked with protecting the royal family at all costs. These galras have special abilities that developed with them over time, but I'll get into that in a bit." Kolivan took a breath. "First, the Queen went into hiding with the help of the Guard. The Guard was the earlier form of the Blade of Marmora. Some of the founding members of the Blade came from them. Anyway, the Queen was pregnant when the King was killed, which meant that at the time, the Galras believed that they Royal line ended there and that there was no immediate heir. Zarkon also appealed to their interests which caused him to gain much of the support he needed. That was when he began working with your father, Princess Allura." He said, looking at the Altean. Allura nodded, but said nothing. Kolivan continued with his story, "Now the Queen was in hiding for years. She had no authority and no power except for her royal blood. This 'royal blood' that I keep mentioning tied them to Daibazaal. It helped them stay connected to the planet, but most importantly, to the wildlife. Especially the Daibazaal Wolves."

"Wait, wait," Lance interrupted him. "So is Keith galra, or a wolf?"

Kolivan smiled slightly and looked at Keith. (Which Lance was pretty salty about because Keith chose to sit by Kolivan instead of him). "Well, Keith is both." Kolivan looked back up. "Royal galra blood allowed the royal family to communicate with the animals. They got especially close to the wolves. The wolves were their main source of information and transportation because of their unique ability to teleport."

"B-But _how_ do they do it?" Pidge asked, leaning forward.

Unfortunately, Kolivan shrugged. "We're still not sure. The subject was not able to be researched before because they always escaped testing facilities."

"So... what happened next?" Lance asked. "With the Queen?"

Kolivan sighed. "The wolves were very intelligent creatures. They were also connected to Daibazaal's lifeforce. They were able to warn the Queen and the Guard early on that the planet's quintessence was unstable and that the planet was slowly collapsing. The wolves grew weak because of how the planet was deteriorating. Many wolves were lost before the Queen came up with a solution." He leaned forward and explained urgently," You have to understand that the wolves were one of the most powerful allies that the early Blade had. They couldn't let them die out."

"Were they considered powerful because they could teleport? Or because they were smart?" Pidge asked, soaking up all the information.

"They were considered powerful because of how lucid they were." He said.

"Lucid?" Hunk asked, confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"The wolves had the most complex mind when compared to other animals. Granted, they were still animals and were not as complex as you or I, but they had the capacity to learn. They were able to learn the galra language, they just did not have the biology to speak." Kolivan looked down at Keith, who was curled up next to his chair sleeping. "The Queen enlisted the help of a few magically inclined galra. She told them to connect the wolves' lifeforce to hers. This was a very dangerous move because if they were not able to connect the lifeforces, they would all die. Fortunately, it was successful. The wolves were no longer connected to a dying planet, they were now connected to the royal family. The newly formed Blade of Marmora escaped the planet with the Queen and an army of wolves."

"So when does Keith come into all this?" Lance asked impatiently. "This doesn't address the fact that he's a wolf."

"Lance, be polite, please," Shiro whisper-shouted from across the table.

Kolivan held up a hand. "It's quite alright." He looked up a Lance. "The reason for that is because over the 10,000 years, the royal family and the wolves shared a lifeforce, but had two bodies. Eventually, this was no longer the case. The royals had both a galra form, and a wolf form." _Oh_ , Lance mouthed. He glanced at Keith. Then where was his galra form? "Back to the Royal Guard," Kolivan continued, "The descendants of the Guard continued to protect the Royal Family, and soon because of their closeness, they soon developed an ability. They were able to assist in the transformation process from galra to wolf, and vice versa. If needed, they were also able to force a royal to transform."

"Why would they ever need to do that?" Lance asked, alarmed. "Isn't forcing that like, I dunno, _bad?_ "

Kolivan nodded. "In some cases, yes, it is." Lance frowned. In some cases? "But transforming from a galra to a wolf can impact the mind. The wolves have one track minds. They only think of one thing at a time, which at times, can be beneficial, but there have been stories of some royal members losing their minds after staying in wolf form for prolonged periods of time. Guard members are able to force a transformation in order to avoid that. They only do that when absolutely necessary. Forcing a transformation can be very painful." Suddenly a Marmorite came up to Kolivan and whispered in his ear. Kolivan sighed. "Try to contact Reives then." The member nodded and left quickly.

"Is there a problem, Kolivan?" Allura asked.

He shook his head, "We're just trying to get into contact with the Guard. Sukishet seems to be unavailable." Kolivan frowned.

"Soooo... about Keith?" Lance prompted. Shiro glared at him. Whoops. The blue paladin swallowed nervously. "I-I mean, uh, the Prince?"

"Right." Kolivan said. "Prince Keithak. The Prince and his mother, Queen Krolia, were housed in one of our most secure bases, but it was attacked." Kolivan clenched his fists. "Both were taken. Somehow they knew our evacuation protocol for the royals, which is top secret." He glanced around the room. "For so long, we've held out the hope that atleast one of them was still alive and that we'd find them. But after nearly six deca-phoebs, there wasn't a sign of either of them from any of our agents. We had to move on." Kolivan smiled slightly. "Maybe our Queen is still out there." Keith yawned and sat up. He barked. "It seems that the Prince has been stuck in this form for a while now." He remarked. "We need to change him back as soon as possible."

"Why can't he change himself back?" Hunk asked.

"It's most likely that he shifted forms during a period of stress and fear." Kolivan answered. He sighed again. "Who knows what they did to him during all that time." He murmured.

"Ooh! We can ask that big galra dude in the basement!" Lance suggestes.

"Excuse me?" Kolivan asked.

"We were attacked yesterday by some galra looking for Keith- ah, I mean the Prince." Hunk explained. "His name was like, Guava... Goovayak-"

"Guvayurak." Kolivan growled.

"Oh, yeah... that guy." Hunk said sheepishly.

"Do you know him, Kolivan?" Shiro asked.

"Of course," Kolivan said with narrowed eyes. "What galra doesn't know who Guvayurak is? He's a hunter. Best in the universe by far. Smart, calculating, but viciously cruel and selfish." He looked to Allura. "Where is he?"

"He's in cryosleep right now, in one of the lower levels." Allura replied. 

Kolivan furrowed his eyebrows. "Did he go willingly?"

"We knocked him out." Lance smiled. "So I don't think that counts as _willingly_."

"Hmph." Kolivan grunted thoughtfully. "We will talk to him later. For now, we can present my select Blades to the Red Lion. Hopefully a Guard member will finally respond in that time." He rose from his seat. "The original plan was to leave after the Red Lion chooses someone," He glanced at Keith for a second, then continued to address the group. "But if it's all the same to you, then I would like to stay with the Prince until a Royal Guard member joins us."

Allura nodded and stood up as well. "I understand completely, Kolivan. I will get Coran to prepare rooms for you and your Blades."

Kolivan bowed. "Thank you, Princess. Your kindness is appreciated."

The same galra from earlier entered the dining room again and approached Kolivan. "Kolivan, both Reives and Vurishka responded to the summons. But there is still no word from Sukishet."

"And?" Kolivan prompted. "What of the other two's answers?"

"Reives said that he is on his way now and will arrive in approximately one movement and two quintants."

Kolivan nodded. "And Vurishka?"

"Vurishka is caught up in a mission at the moment and will contact us as soon as she is available."

"Understood. Well done, Yuvil."

The galra nodded and left, presumably back to the landing bay. The leader of the Blades turned back to the group. "There are only three members of the Royal Guard left." He tilted his head as he explained. "You heard me talking to Yuvil, there is Sukishet, Vurishka, and Reives. Sukishet is the captain of the Guard. Hopefully you do not mind Reives joining us soon, Princess Allura."

"Of course not." She replied. "I would be happy to assist."

~~~~~

Lance flopped onto his bed and sighed. Keith- or Keithak- followed Kolivan all day long. Which should be expected, since he knows Kolivan better. Lance buried his face into his pillow and groaned. "Damn it, Keith." He whispered into the soft fabric. All this time he was a galra? Not only that, but a galra _prince?_ He's been treating him like a dog this whole time! Would he be angry once he changed back?

All these thoughts rattled around in Lance's head along with the fact that _Red_ _still hasn't chosen a paladin._ Each of the six galra tried to get some reaction out of Red, but she just continued to sit there, not letting anyone in. Allura was disappointed beyond belief, as was Kolivan.

_"The Red Lion is picky." Allura said. "I just thought that there was a higher chance that she'd choose a galra because of how they fit the criteria." She sighed. "But I guess not."_

There's a whole universe out there! How were they going to find the one person that could pilot Red? And more importantly, a person that they could trust to have their backs? They've been trying so hard, but the task seemed almost impossible!

"Damn it." Lance whispered again. How were they going to form Voltron without the Red Lion? How were they going to defeat Zarkon and free the whole universe?

_Psshh..._

Lance's door slid open.

Lance sat up and looked at his guest.

Keith stood in the doorway with his head tilted. Lance smiled softly. "Hey, buddy." He patted the bed next to him. Keith took the invitation and hopped onto the bed and curled up next to Lance, resting his head on his thigh. Lance pet him softly. "So you're a prince, huh?" Keith snorted and flicked an ear. Lance chuckled. "I bet you can't wait to turn back to your original form, am I right?" The wolf looked up at him, golden eyes glowing softly in the dim room. "Well _I_ can't wait for you to turn back because that means I can finally talk to you! Wouldn't that be cool?" Keith blinked and his ears perked up. "Prince..." Lance whispered, lost in thought. "We _have_ to get you to that throne, Keith- I mean, Keithak." He corrected himself. "We _have_ to end this war." He clenched his fists. "We _have_ to form Voltron!" Lance exclaimed, frusterated. "Why can't Red choose someone? We need Voltron! The _universe_ needs Voltron!" He gripped the sheets beside him, staring angrily at the floor. Keith whined and snuggled closer to him. Lance paused to look down at Keith. "Sorry, I didn't mean to raise my voice." He whispered. "It's just that, there's so much suffering in the universe right now. Zarkon is continuing to expand his empire, and it's only a matter of time until he makes it to Earth. My-My family is there." Lance sniffed. His vision beginning to blur with unshed tears. "M-My mom.. and Pop-pop.. and my sister Veronica, and my brothers Marco and Luis..." He rubbed his eyes. "A-And my sweet niece and nephew Nadia and Silvio..." He covered his mouth as he sobbed quietly. "I just can't imagine any of them in a galra work camp, o-or fighting for their lives in an arena or... something worse." 

Keith sat up and licked Lance's face as if to say _Everything will be alright_. Then he curled around Lance tightly. Lance laid down and pulled Keith close, crying softly into his fur. "I miss them so much..." He mumbled. Keith then continued to lick Lance's face soothingly.

Suddenly, Keith began emitting a purple glow. Purple particles began floating in the air, the same particles that are left after he teleports. Lance gasps softly as he feels a comforting warmth surge through his body. His eyelids become heavy and his mind calms from worrying. The dark thoughts dissipate from his mind as he grows drowsy.

Soon, Lance drifts off to sleep.


End file.
